Willie Nelson

Lance Brown creates an illustration live for the video camera to his own vocals of “A Peaceful Solution” and his screaming guitar accompaniment. In addition to the recognition he deserves for that I honor and respect the position Lance Brown takes in his statement.

Here we have an individual who has obviously followed his own advice and spent much time and effort working on himself. Lance Brown made himself into a thoughtful and creative person.

A world of thoughtful and creative people would be a different world.

Anyone who understands the biology of human childbirth knows that we all enter the world only after surviving a life-or-death ordeal.

Compound that initial stress with the complications of a less-than-perfect family life, a school system concerned primarily with preparing people for regimented work and organized religions teaching fear to obtain obedience and you can understand why we face a shortage of thoughtful and creative people.

While there have been many examples of individuals overcoming personal problems and then realizing an aspect of the human potential, you know they represent a small fraction of the human race. Yet because they have overcome difficult obstacles they prove that many more can follow a similar path.

Today we find the lives of billions of people in the hands of ruthless, greedy, remorseless and violent leaders who obviously care less for their acquired responsibilities than their own narrow interests.

Anyone who steps up to directly challenge the status quo steps into the arena of the arrogant madmen and enters the same cloud of confusion. After uncounted cycles of crazy people usurping power with the excuse that they can do it better I hope you can see through the faulty logic.

There is no better way to wage war and rain destruction upon people and their environment. A better way of life requires an entirely different approach.

A better way of life requires thoughtful and creative people.

Our system does not produce thoughtful and creative people. Individuals must apply themselves, struggle against the madness and often resign themselves to modest lifestyles in order to break free of negative cultural assumptions.

The rewards of peace are worth the sacrifice.

Look around the world, use the Internet and you will discover more and more people willing to contribute to a world at peace. People from all countries, all religions, all races and all walks of life have turned towards peace.

Turning towards peace means that one seeks peaceful solutions rather than the confrontations that lead to violence. If more people did this then the violent madmen would be left with no one left to do their bidding.

Let us leave the violence behind.

Turn away from all violence and join the peaceful revolution.

* * * * * Artist’s Statement * * * * *

As a artist, musician and songwriter, I find that improvisation is critical to the creative process. Twelve years of Zen Practice coupled with years of drawing from the meditative perspective forwarded by Frederick Franck in his series of books starting with “The Zen of Seeing”, I approach most of my work with little idea of what the finished product will be.

As a discipline, I spent many years following the advice of an old Roman poet (who’s name I cannot recall) who said, “Nulla dies sine linea”…. “Not a day without a line”. This practice forced me to draw, and most times to render in great detail, some subject every single day. I conform most closely to this discipline in my blues series but I lean more heavily on imagination and improvisation in my abstracts and pencil drawings.

But no matter what the case, the point is to keep the doors of the mind open and, in the same way the musician listens, watch for the next thing the work tells you it needs — then – DO THAT!

I am passionate about creating peace because I see the potential for violence in us all. My work connects me to all aspects of being human.. the good and the bad. When we start thinking we are above others who are trapped in cycles of violence we are ignoring the seeds of violence that are in ourselves.

War makers are peacemakers who somewhere along the line lost their grip out of either fear or delusion. We are all afraid. We are all deluded. I have been more active over the last two years because youtube has provided a vehicle for my work.

I am motivated by the desire to be an active member of a positively minded community of artists and musicians. I have chosen the path of art for peace because it is in keeping with my years of Zen Buddhist training that I am woefully incapable of following without the support of other like minded people.

My primary idea for a peaceful solution is to start with myself.

A person who knows their true nature, their Buddha Nature, cannot help but to project peace into the world.

My best suggestion would be for people to heal themselves.

Don’t go into the world as damaged goods trying to heal others. Start at home, then move to family, then to friends, then to community, then nation, then the world.

If everyone did that very few people would get to the saving the world point. The world only will be fixed when everybody works to heal the situation in their immediate environment.

www.lancestunes.com

www.lancebrownfineart.com

Will Rogers – www.willrogers.net

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